NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was held by police Wednesday during a demonstration against the country’s election head, as opposition parties stepped up their campaign on a controversial alteration of voter lists.
Police halted Gandhi and other opposition MPs as they marched toward Jantar Mantar, a designated protest place in New Delhi, the capital of India. Police were shown bringing him into a vehicle and transporting him away on a live video on the YouTube channel of Gandhi’s Congress party.
Authorities also arrested several other opposition MPs and protesters. Opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the poll panel he leads manipulated voter registrations to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party. The charges have been denied by the commission and administration.
The rallies are part of a growing campaign by opposition parties, student groups and India’s young “Cockroach” movement to protest the Special Intensive modification, the statewide modification of voter lists. It started last year in the eastern state of Bihar ahead of local elections and has already spread to most Indian states and union territories. So far, the Indian Election Commission has purged more than 130 million names from the voter registers. Millions have fought the removals.
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